Note 47 — CONTENTS. (continued 5)

The oo, or digger, of Hawaii (the only agricultural implement the people had) of necessity was made from the hardest woods. While the character of the pandanus wood shows a pithy core, there are some varieties in which this is small, but in all cases the outer portion—as with palms in general—furnished a hard fibrous-grained wood, yet readier reduced to size and shape for use than other available woods from this fact. With the coming of whaleships Hawaiians adopted the whale-men’s spade, hence the oo’s of today are of that type but heavier. ↑